Admission & Application Procedures

Admission & Application Procedures

Applications Procedures/Fees

Applications are invited from interested students from January onwards. Applications can be made online. Places for courses may be offered after each round of interviews, subject to availability, through to the end of September.

All applications are acknowledged. Where places remain available candidates will be invited for interview, and notified accordingly shortly before the interview round. All correspondence is by way of email and SMS text. Interview rounds are as follows:

NB

Online Applications require a valid email address and mobile number. You must use your own PPSN number only when completing the application form online.

Feb/March: First round of interviews takes place – Offers of a place accepted with a non-refundable Deposit of €40 (Balance of Enrolment Fee payable in August)

April/May: Second round of interviews takes place – Offers of a place accepted with a non-refundable Deposit of €40 (Balance of Enrolment Fee payable in August)

Aug/Sept: Third round of interviews takes place – Full Enrolment Fee payable when accepting a place.

In the event of a course being oversubscribed a waiting list is compiled.

Funding Schemes

Some students may be eligible to avail of one of the following funding schemes:

Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (V.T.O.S.)

Eligible Students continue to get their full Social Welfare entitlements as well as the cost of text books, exam fees etc., for the duration of the course. Meal and travel allowances are also paid. Places are limited so early application is advisable.

Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)

The BTEA allows qualified applicants to return to full-time education in approved courses in order to advance the applicant’s level of education while continuing to receive some support. People in receipt of certain social welfare payments can retain these payments for the duration of the course. Please check the website www.welfare.ie for qualifying conditions.

Maintenance Grants

The Department of Education & Science provides 3rd level maintenance grants to eligible students attending full-time Further Education courses in the College. The grants are paid through the Student Universal Support System (SUSI) and are means tested. This payment is made subject to satisfactory attendance on your course. For further information check the website www.studentfinance.ie.

NB: Additional costs may apply on a course by course basis where additional certification or specific resources are required. Details of these further costs will be outlined at interview.

Admissions Policy

The College of Further Education Dundrum aims to provide an inclusive service in which individual differences are welcomed and respected. We recognise the right of every student to learn and develop through education and we are committed to supporting you in working towards your educational goals.

Admission to a particular course in the College is subject to

Places being available on the course

Candidates meeting the entry requirement of the particular course as outlined in the College Website

At interview the Candidate’s aptitude for the particular course is, in the professional judgement of the College staff, deemed suitable.

All our Courses are geared towards Vocational Preparation and Training and progression to Further and Higher Education. In this context candidates will be prioritised on the basis of those who demonstrate:

Actively Seeking Employment

Updating their Skills to Return to the Workplace

Interested in Pursuing Further Study with a view to Progression

General Information

All courses begin in mid-September and finish in early June. The courses are full-time.

Students whose first language is not English must be able to demonstrate that they have the minimum required standard of English prior to joining the course. The minimum standard of English is Higher Intermediate (First Certificate). Any attained certification should be included with your application

International Students may be required to take an English Assessment Test as well as attend for interview with the Course Tutor. Participation on any course in will be subject to the student achieving the required standard on this test/interview.

New students are not accepted onto any course after September 30th in the year of the course. All students must ensure that they arrive in the College prior to this date.

International Students

International Students who are EU Nationals:

The College should receive your completed application not later than 1stSeptember. Please attach a copy of your passport or national identity card to your application.

All our courses are funded by the Department of Education and Science, with the assistance of the European Social Fund, through the National Development Plan.

As an EU citizen you may qualify for maintenance assistance. Normal eligibility criteria for the schemes (nationality, residency, means test etc.) apply. There is a meeting for students in September to provide all the necessary information.

International Students from Non-EU Countries who are currently not resident in Ireland

The Economic Fee for the 2012/2013 session is €3,653.

It is the responsibility of each student to meet the immigration requirements in order to live and study in Ireland. For details please contact your local Irish Embassy or Consulate. If you require a letter from the College stating that you are a registered student you must have fully completed the registration process, i.e., you must have submitted the following to the College:

– the completed application form

– a copy of your passport or national identity card

– a copy of an internationally recognised certificate in English, if you have any

– the full course fee (as per payment agreement) and attend for interview

Note

It is the student’s responsibility to deal with the visa authorities with regard to obtaining a student visa. Under no circumstances can the College communicate with the visa authorities on any student’s behalf

In the event of it not being possible to complete the registration process the full fee and all documentation will be returned by post.

Additional information for Students from non-EU countries with special leave to live in Ireland:

The same conditions that apply to Irish nationals apply to the following categories. (This in effect means that the economic fee of €3,654 is not charged but the student enrolment fee will apply )

Non- EU nationals

Persons with Refugee status in Ireland – either convention or programme

Persons in the State as a spouse of an EU national, where the spouse has moved from one country to another within the EU to work

Persons (including dependent spouse and children) who have been granted leave to remain in the State on humanitarian grounds.

Asylum seekers with the right to work, i.e., arrived in Ireland prior to 26thJuly 1999 and are at least one year in Ireland and have an official letter to that effect.

If you have made application for asylum but do not have the right to work then you are not permitted to join any of the full-time courses offered in College of Further Education Dundrum. Only Asylum seekers in the State since before 26th July 1999 have the right to work and access programmes in the Further Education sector. Documentation required:

Category

Documentation Required

EU Nationals

An EU Passport

Spouse of an Irish/EU Citizen

● Letter from Department of Justice

● Letter from G.N.I.B. (indicating a residency Stamp 4)

of the applicant only

● Marriage Certificatte

Persons with Refugee Status
Persons (including their dependent spouse and children) with humanitarian leave to remain

● Must produce the original letter – i.e. the first letter of

sanction – from the Department of Justice, Equality &

Law Reform which states the grounds on which the

person was granted permission to remain in the State

(the letter renewing/extending permission to remain is

not sufficient

● G.N.I.B. Card – Residency Stamp 4

Persons Who Have Been Granted Leave to Remain under Family Reunification Arrangements

● Two letters from the Department of Justice Equality &

Law Reform are required:
● One letter in respect of the applicant (which will refer

to family reunification)
● One letter in respect of the other *family member
● G.N.I.B. Card
● Where the applicant is over 18 years of age, the GNIB

card (Stamp 4) of the applicant is required

*Please note parentage of an Irish Born child no longer automatically entitles a person to apply for leave to remain. However, where leave to remain has been granted on this basis, Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform will have issued a letter confirming permission to remain in the State

The onus is on the applicant to prove eligibility to access Further Education courses in all cases.